The page http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecanum-Rad describes that the Mecanum wheel is a wheel that allows a vehicle equipped with such a wheel to execute onmidirectional driving maneuvers without having to be equipped with a mechanical steering system. It is sometimes also called an Ilon wheel after its Swedish inventor Bengt Ilon. Ilon invented this wheel in 1973 as an engineer at the Swedish company Mecanum AB. In contrast to the omniwheel, the rollers in the Mecanum wheel are situated at an angle to the main axis.
In the following text, both the Mecanum wheel and the omniwheel are referred to as omnidirectional wheels. Accordingly, this omnidirectional wheel allows omnidirectional driving maneuvers.